Closure construction



3 SheetsfSheet 1 L. E. BURHANs CLOSURE CONSTRUCTION med Feb. 14, 1924 March 16 1926.

myENToR ATTORNEY Mmh 16 1926.

L. E. BURHANS CLOSURE CONSTRUCTION" Filed Feb. 14, 1924 :s4 sheets-sheet 2 March 16 1926.

L. E. BURHANS cLosunE CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR @L BY MM@ f waa ATTORNEY r part obvious and Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES LLOYD E. BURHANS, OF YONKERS, N EW YORK.

CLOSURE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed February 14, 1924. Serial No. 692,741.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD E. BURHANS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of Tvl/Testchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closurel Construction, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a closure and has particular reference to such a device as is usually employed in strong rooms, vaults and safes, although it is to be understood that the subject matter of the presentinvention might be used to advantage to certain other associations.

Itis an object of the invention to provide an improved closure construction by means of'which the entrance of foreign matter into a safe or other receptacle may be prevented to a maximum extent so that, in the event of lire the lcontents will be safeguarded against the action of smoke and water aside from the fact that an unauthorized person endeavoring'to secure entrance to the recepitacle will be virtually unable to do so for the reason that it will be extremely diiiicult to effectively use a tool or explosive on the closure.

It is a further objectk of this invention to provide a construction of the character speciiied by means of which the closure will be locked in a manner additional to the manner in which this has been heretofore deemed practicable so as to furnish a further safeguard against successful attempts to open thesame. I

An additional object is that of providing a closure which will eliiciently perform the purposes for which it is intended and which will also be economically and readily manufactured and assembled.

Other objects of the invention will be in will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement. of parts, `which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the appli cation of which will be indicated in the claims. v

For a fullerunderstanding of the naturel and objects of the invention referenceshould be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a safe and showing certain portions of one of the closure panelsthereof broken away to disclose the underlying construction,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional side view taken along the lines 2 2 in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 1,

Flg. 3 is a similar view of a portion'of the closure operating mechanism, i Y

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of the safe mechanism as illustrated in i Fig. 1 and taken along the lines 4-4 thereof, this view showing the parts in one position,

Fig. 5 is a view 'showing one form of certain mechanical parts as illustrated lin Fig. 4, the parts in this view howeveigb'eingv which may he of any desirable type andl which in the present exemplification has an open front; the top, bottom and'side walls of the structure constituting the jam portions 11 against which the closure seats.

This closure may includeva pair ofk panels 12 and 13 which' are swingingly supported by the use of hinges 14, so that the panels are movable away from and towards the jamb. These panels have been shown as of exaggerated size in order to assure a clear illustration of the locking mechanism hereinafter described and as will be see-n, reference being had to Fig. 4, the opposed side edges of the panels may be stepped as indicated at 15, it being understood that this construction may be modilied in mauy particulars in order to assure a'most efficient sealing and a ready opening of the closure Without the panels interfering With one another in their swinging movements.

A pairof bars or lbolts 16 is slidably mounted upon the rear face of each panel and When projected the outer ends of these bars Will extend beyond the edges of the panel and into sockets 19 formed in the jamb 11. In order to effect this projection and also to enable the bars to be retracted any suitable mechanism may be utilized. For example: a pinion 18 may be employed for each pair` of barsV and be mounted between anden-gage rack portions 17 formed adjacent the inner ends ofthe same, A knob v2O may be connected with the'pinion and lie at ampoint beyond the outer face of the-panel.y Thus, `When each, knobl is turned in one direction the ends of certain of the bars 16l Will Abeprojected to occupy a position, one Withinv each of the sockets-19, yvhile a turning of the knob in an opposite direction Willresult in a retraction of the bars from Within the sockets.

Extending from those edges of each of the panels which are adjacent the hinges 111, are one or more'lockingr elements.` These, in the present instance, each include a Hattened head 21, which extends beyond the inner edge of the panel When the latter is m closed, position projects into-a socket Which as infFigs. 6 and 7, may have a mouth portion inthe nature of a keyhole slot 22 of ak size suliicient to permit thepassage of the head 21,4the body of this socket, to the rear of the slot 22, being divided into tWo 0pposed,y arciiatechambers 23.

Itis thus obvious that With the locking elements in the position shown in Fig.- 4, the panels 12 and 13 may be freely swung and in each instance upon these panels ing moved yto a positionin Which they will `be seated against the jamb, the elements aforementioned, Will enter'the keyhole slots or openings 22 provided for this purpose, While upon theoclosure being opened the A headsfwill be free to swing through the slots 22 and clear of the jamb. )if now, after each :of thesel heads hasibeen brought to a position yat which it extends into the socket and to the rear ofthe jamb face and is turned, @in the present instance, through an arc of `900, the Wings of the head will be moved from the position shown in Fig. `6 to that indicated in Fig. 7 and in this latter position ito'ivill be understood that the pano els cannot be ,swung relative to the safebody due to the vfact that the locking elements will prevent this operation `from being effected, it being understood that-in order to swing the panels to their open position, each of .the heads Willy, again have to be turned to a point at Which its Wings are in line with the slot 22, as in Fig. 6, so as to freely swing' through the same an'l beyond the jamb.

NOW With a View of moving the locking elements in the manner indicated, it Will be noted that each of the same is carried by a shaft 24 rotatably mounted upon the rear face of the panel and each of these shafts in the present instance, is formed with an annular series of teeth 25 in engagement With corresponding teeth 26 providing rack portions forming a part of the bars 16.

Thus, it is to be understood that with the bars in their retracted positions the panels constituting the closure are free to be swung into either open or closed positions. During such swinging the locking. elements, provided in the present instance by the heads 21, Will also be free to enter or Withdraw from the amb sockets into Which they are capable of being extended. 1f now, upon the panels being in closed position the knobs z2O carried thereby are rotated, this Will result, first, in the bars 16 beingpro jected so that the outer ends of the same come to vextend into the sockets 19 provided for their accommodation; secondly, as a consequence of this projection of the bars, the shafts 241 will be rotated thus causing` the heads 21 carried thereby to be moved from the position shown in Figs. 4- and 6, to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 7, it being noted that the parts-,are so correlated in the present instance, that a full projection of the bar 16 Willvcause a srdiicient rotation on' the part of the shafts 2i to swing the Wings of the heads 2l into a position at which they Will bear against the remote side faces of the chambers 23, i. e., those faces of thesame Which are opposed to the faces in line with the slot 22.

In the present instance, the shafts 211 carried by the panel 13 are each formed with a bore, the outer end of which is constricted and provides screwV threads 27. Mounted for movement one Within the bores of each of Athese shafts are rods 28 having a screw threaded ortion 29 engag'eable with the screw threat s 27 and being further formedv with a head 30 adapted to bear against the shoulder provided at the inner end of the reduced bore portion of the shaft.` It is here to be notedl that the distancebetvveen the innermost screw thread 29 and the inner face of the head 30 is greater than the length of the constricted bore portion Within which the screw threads 27 are formed and as a consequence it will be obvious that if the rods are rotated to a sulficient extent in one direction they Will each Y into contact with the shoulder provided by the constricted bore portion of the latter, the purpose of this construction being hereinafter brought out.

The shafts 24 associated with the panel 12 are arranged to lie in line with the shafts carried by the panel 13 when the closure is seated against the jamb and the shafts 24 carried by the panel 12 are furthermore each formed adjacent their ends with screw threaded bores the threads of which correspond in pitch to the threads 27 and 29. Thus, due to the fact that the adjacent edges of the panels 12 and 13 are formed with openings in line with the shafts 24, it will be obvious that upon the rods 28 being turned relative to the shafts carrying the same, and as a consequence being fed outwardly, that the outer end of each rod will move through the openings in the edges of the panels and enter the bore of the shaft 24 associated with the panel 12. The outer end of each rod is provided with a screw thread 32 corresponding in pitch to that of the screws 27, 29 and 31 and thus upon entering the bore of the shaft in the manner aforementioned, the screw threads 32 and 31 will interengage and as a consequence the rod 28 will be fed, not alone by the movement of the threads 27 and 29 relative to each other, but also by the corresponding relative movement of the threads 31 and 32.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the threads31 and 32 will be in engagement upon the last convolution of the ready mentioned shoulder in the shaft 24v of the panel 1.3. Thus, continued movement of the rol relative to the shafts will cause the ends of the same to tend to move towards each other, but due to the fact that these ends are actually in the form of locking elements, provided by the heads 21, the inner edges of these heads will be caused to intimately bear against the inner faces of the plates 33 which cover the sockets into which the locking elements extend, so that, if this movement of the rod is continued to a sufficient extent the parts of the safe walls which provided the jamb portion 11 will actually be constricted, resulting in the adjacent faces of the jamb and closure being pressed intimately into' contact with each other and as a consequence also press-iE ing the adjacent faces of the panels 12 and13 into contact. This action will further cause a reduction in the joint space between the various elements providing the extremely diliicult matter to turn the shafts 24 unt-il the tension exerted upon the parts is released.

Now with a view of turning the rods in the manner before brought out, any desirable mechanism may be utilized, for example, referring to Fig. 2, the panel 13may carry a hand wheel 34 mounted upon av shaft which extends through and to the rear of this panel at which point it mounts a gear 35 engageable with corresponding gears 36 secured to each of shafts 37. These shaft at points adjacent the shafts 24 are formed with worm portions 38 in engagement with the teeth of worm wheels 39, the latter being slidably keyed upon the rods 28 as has been indicated at 40. As a result, due to the fact that the keyway in each rod 28 is of suflicient length to allow the full projection and retraction of the rod and furthermore for the reason that the movements of the worm wheels 39 are in the present instance, limited, it will be seen that by the turning of the shafts 37 the desired projection of the rods 28 is achieved. As a consequence the resultant operations aforementioned are accomplished.

In certain instances it may be found due to wear of the parts or for other reasons, that as the rod 28 moves toward one of the shafts 24 the screw threads on the former do not engage with the screw threads in the bore Vof the latter. In other words, the forward ends of the threads may fail to properly engage. ln order to overcome any difficulties in this connection, a structure such as has been shown in Fig. 8 may be utilized.

In this view it will be noted that the outer and screw threaded end portion of one of the rods 28 has been shown together with one of the shafts associated with the panel 12. This shaft has been indicated by the numeral 41 and it will be seen that contrary to the structure depicted in Athe preceding figures, this shaft terminates at a point relatively remote from the outer edge of the panel 13. Carried at the end of the shaft 41 is a collar 42 which is rigidly aliixed thereto and has a bore providing a leyway 43 within which bore the head 44 of a rody 45 is capable of moving, it being observed that the head carries a key 4G slidable within the groove or keyway 43, so that the movements of the rod 45 are limited to a direction coextensive with the axis of the shaft 41. Fixedly attached to the rod is a sleeve 47 formed with internal screw threads corresponding to the pitch and diameter of the threads 32,"and it will finally be observed that a spring 48 is, in the present instance, interposed between the outer end of the collar 42 and the inner face of the sleeve 47 so that these parts are normally maintained in the position shown.`

Assuming, for example, that as the rod .28 is advanced toward the sleeve 47, the screw threads of the latter are not in a position at which they will immediately engage with the screw threads of the former, it will be appreciated that a continued projection of the rod 28 will result in the sleeve and rod 45 carrying the same being moved towards the shaft 4l, this movement being permitted by virtue of the construction before described'.

According to the mechanism employed in the present instance, the rod 28, in causing a movement on the part of the sleeve reia tive to the shaft, will usually make less than a complete revolution, in that at some poi t in its path of rotation the screw threads will begin to interengagc. This ment will be continued until the parts are subjected to tension, and, upon the initiation of this tension, the sleeve will again move to its normal position, i. e., that shown in Fig. 8 so that, by means of the construction shown the difficulties aforementioned, will be avoided.

Briefly reviewing, the functions derived by the use` of the mechanism illustrated, and the manner in which they are achieved it will be understood, assuming the parts to be in the position shown .in Fig. l, that a turn` ing of the knob 20 associated with each of the panels will cause the bars lfd to be tracted from positions within the socken 19. Coincident with this retraction, the iafts 24 will be turned so that the wall .or jamb engaging members, i. e., the heads 2l, will be moved from positions at which they are anchored to positions in which upon the door panels being swung they may freely pass through the slots 22, formed inthe plates 83. The closure may-now bey opened by swingingthe same on the hinges 14 provided for this purpose.

Conversely, after the parts are opened and it is desired to completely lock the closure against movement, as well as to prevent a movement of the mechanism which affects this locking, the panels may initially be swung shut. Upon the knobs 20 being now turned, the bars operated thereby will be projected once more to the positions shown in Fig. l, which will also result in the wall engaging means being turned to positions at which they may not be withdrawn from the sockets into which they new extend, (it being appreciated that during the closing` of the panels the heads have again passed through the slots 22).

The elements 2l will now be found to occupy positions such as have been shown in Figs. and 7, i. e., in which the arms or wings of these elements are not in alignment with the slots 22, but are, in the present instance, in engagement with the proper faces of the chambers 23. The operator will now rotate the shaft 37 and this rota- Lef/este tion will result in the rods 28 being fed from the position shown .in Fig. 4 to the position shown 'in Fig. 5, during which feeding it will be appreciated that the outer ends of the rods will enter into and have their screw threads 32 engage with the screw threads 3l of the bores formed in the shafts 24 carried by the panel l2. In moving to such position, it will be understood that the mechanism will cause a tension to be rplaced on the parts. Inother words the walls adjacent the jamb portions of the receptacle will tend to move towards each other to close to a maximum extent all `joints, or in other words to bring adjacent surfaces of the panels and jambe into most intimate contact. This, as before brought out, will also result in the shafts being virtually locked against rotation in Vthat it will be necessary to relieve this tension before they can be again turned.

lt will be obviously understood that any desira le lock mechanism might be utilized, such as, for example, that indicated by the reference numeral 49 to prevent any turnif ing of either the knobs or the shaft 37 when the part-s are in closed position, it being seen, referring particularly to the mechanism which drives the gears 36, that the gear may be retracted to a position in which it will not mesh vwith the first named gears, and in fact be prevented from moving into meshing position by interposing a bar 50 between these elements, this bar lbeing operated bythe locking mechanism before mentioned.v In conclusion, attention is invited to the fact that the construction of the individual mechanical parts might be varied in numerous particulars to `assure a ready working of the same and also to expedite the steps involved in the manufacture and assemblage of the mechanisms.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated in certain instances where for example, the invention is employed in connection with vault construction, that the tensioning of the parts will not result in any appreciable movement of the jamb portions towards each other, due to the rigid construction of the wall. However, due to the tensioning effect achieved, it will be understood that a closure lock construction will be provided, which will be extremely efficient.

lt will be understood from the foregoing that among others, those objects specifically aforementioned have been accomplished, and since certain changes may ,bel made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood. that the followllO ing claims arev intended to cover all of the generic and specific fcaturesof theinvention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described 1ny invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: v

l. A device of the character described, including in combination, a receptacle provided with anopening, a closure for said opening, said closure including a pluralityv of panels and means carried by said closure and adapted to press the adjacent surfaces of said panels into contact with each other and further adapted to press adjacent surfaces of said closure and receptacle into intimate contact whereby to reduce the size of the joints existing between said elements.

2. A device ofthe character described, including in combination, a receptacle formed with an opening, a closure therefor, said closure including a plurality of panels, locking heads carried by each of said panels and being adapted to extend into sockets formed in the receptacle walls upon said zlosure being moved to closed position, means for locking said heads within said sockets, means for connecting heads associated with different panels to each other, and means exerting a draft upon said heads whereby to tend to move the same towards each other and to bring adjacent surfaces of the panels and receptacle walls into intimate contact.

3. A device of the character described, including in combination, a receptacle formed with an opening, a closure therefor, bolts carried by said closure and projeetable into sockets formed in the receptacle, locking elements also carried by said closure and projectable into sockets formed in said receptacle, means for locking said elements within said sockets, and means for exerting a draft upon said elements whereby to tend to move adjacent surfaces of said panels and receptacles into intimate contact with each other.

4. A device of the character described, including in combination, a receptacle formed with an opening, a closure therefor, said receptacle being formed with sockets, bars carried by said closure, locking heads adjacent the outer ends of said bars and adapted to be extended into said sockets, means carried by one of said bars and movable into contact with another for connecting the same, and means for moving said bars and locking heads towards each other whereby to tend to move adjacent surfaces of said receptacle and closure into inti* mate contact.

5. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a receptacle presenting an opening, a plurality of panels adapted to be positioned Within the opening to close the same,`a shaft carriedby one of the panels and having the threaded bore formed in one of its ends, means onthe other end of said shaft to lockingly engage the receptacle on one side of .said opening, a shaft carried by another of said panels in alignment with the first shaft, means on the second shaft to lockingly engage the receptacle on the opposite side of said opening, a

lockingly engage the .receptacle carried by u each of said panels, one of said members having a threaded bore formed therein, a rod having on one of its ends a threaded portion adapted to be screwed into said bore, means to screw the rod into the bore, and' means to limit the relative movement of thev rod and another of said members when the rod is screwed into said bore.

7. A device of the character described, in- Y cluding, in combination, a receptacle presenting an opening, a plurality of panels adapted to be positioned within the opening to close the same, a member adapted to loekingly engage the receptacle carried by each of said panels, one of said Vmembers having a threaded bore formed therein, a rod having on one of its ends a threaded portion adapted to be screwed into said bore, means to rotate said rod, means to cause the threaded portion of the rod to enter said bore upon rotation of the rod, and means to limit the relative movement of the rod and another of said members when the rod is screwed into said bore.

8. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a receptacle presenting an opening, a lplurality of panels adapted to be positioned within the opening toV close the same, a shaft carried by one of the panels andhaving the threaded bore formed in one of its ends, means on the other end of said shaft to lockingly engage the receptacle on one side of said opening, a shaft carried by another of said panels in alignment with the first-named shaft, means on the second shaft to lockingly engage the receptacle on the opposite side of said opening, a rod extending in a direction par allel to said shaft and having a threaded connection with said second shaft and the rod is screwedy a threaded end adapted to enter said bore upon the rotation ot' the rod in said connect-ion `in one directiom and cooperating; means on said rod and the last-mentioned shaft to limit vthe relative movement thereof.

9. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a receptacle presenting an opening, a plurality of members I adapted to be disposed Within said opening to provide va closure therefor, a member carried by each of said panels and adapted to loelringlj,7 engage the receptacle, a projection extensibly mounted on one or said members, said projection and another ot said members having` cio-axial threaded bores formed therein, a rod having the threaded portion adapted .to lcoopera-te with the threaded bore on said other member and a threaded end adapted to be ewed into said threaded bore and yieldable means to maintain said projection extended toward said rod.

10. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a receptacle pre- -said members having to lockingly engage the receptacle, a projeetion eXtensibly mounted on one of said members, said projection and another ot co-axial threaded. bores formed therein, a rod havin-g the threaded portion adapted to cooperate with the threaded bore on said other member and a threaded end adapted to be screwed into said threaded bore, yieldable means to maintain said projection extended toward said rod and cooperating` means on the red and said other member t0 limit the relative movement thereof after the threaded end of the rod has entered the threaded bore of the projection and the threaded `portion on the rod has been screwed through the threaded bore of said other member.

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature.

LLOYD E. BURHANS. 

